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Stephen Bartowski
Stephen J. Bartowski is a recurring character on the television series Chuck portrayed by actor Scott Bakula. Stephen is the estranged father of Chuck and Ellie Bartowski, and under the government codename "Orion" was the chief designer of the Intersect. Biography Few details about Stephen Bartowski's life have been revealed on the show. His wife left him when Chuck was in the fifth grade and although he loved his children, Chuck describes him in as "never really there." Stephen is a computer and software genius who attended graduate school with Ted Roark, whom Bartowski would later allege stole all of his best ideas. Sometime after the end of his association with Roark, he went to work for the government. He worked with Dr. Jonah Zarnow and Dr. Howard Busgang on the Intersect computer database, where he was the head of the project under the codename "Orion." Stephen would tell Chuck in "Chuck Versus the Dream Job," regarding the intersect, he designed "just the really cool parts." He would later reveal to Chuck that he tested the Intersect on himself, and thus possesses an older version of it himself. Stephen later learned what the government intended to do with the Intersect and, knowing that others would want it too, stole the original Cipher and wiped all his data before going into hiding some five years before the events of the series, at which point he became the target of a major global manhunt by the NSA.NBC.com: [http://www.nbc.com/Chuck/exclusives/spydossiers/ Spy Dossiers] General Beckman was personally involved with the search. In an effort to protect his children, Stephen decided the best thing to do was to leave and distance himself from them. Ten years before the events of "Chuck Versus the Dream Job," Stephen left after promising to make his children pancakes for dinner. With only his codename to go on, Stephen was targeted both by the government and Fulcrum. Fulcrum assigned Vincent to the task of tracking him down. The five years he spent in hiding were spent constantly on the move, and faked his death on at least several occasions. Stephen's mastery of computer systems allowed him to stay one step ahead of his pursuers, to the point that the NSA issued a directive that all communication pertaining to the hunt for Orion be carried out via non-electronic means.NBC.com: [http://www.nbc.com/Chuck/exclusives/spydossiers/ Spy Dossiers] reveals that Stephen had asked Bryce Larkin to look out for his son, and keep him away from the Intersect project. However it was Bryce's familiarity with Stephen and the Intersect that played a role in his decision to send it to Chuck. Series Stephen Bartowski first becomes a major part of the ongoing arc in "Chuck Versus the Sensei," when Chuck promises Ellie that he will find their father to walk her down the aisle at her wedding. At that time, Stephen's most recent known location was in Las Vegas, Nevada. Chuck's search turns up mostly dead-ends, and Ellie resigns herself to the search failing. Stephen first appears (as Orion) in . Vincent tracks him to Hong Kong, but Bartowski nearly kills him with a MQ-9 Reaper armed UAV and escapes. Chuck attracts his father's attention when he begins an off-book search for Orion after being alerted by Howard Busgang that Orion could help him remove the Intersect. Stephen later attempts to arrange a meeting with Chuck, but interference by Beckman allows Vincent to catch up with and ambush him. Stephen escapes by faking his death by directing his Reaper drone to shoot down the helicopter Chuck thinks he is aboard. Before this incident, Stephen had left Chuck plans for the Fulcrum Intersect to guide his son on his personal quest to remove the Intersect from his brain. He also warns Chuck not to trust Casey or Sarah with the information. Later, Sarah makes an unauthorized CIA database search for Stephen on Chuck's behalf, and Stephen allows her to successfully locate him after his son's efforts failed. In , Chuck and Sarah meet with him in his trailer, and although initially reluctant, Stephen agrees to accompany him home. The reunion with his daughter goes less smoothly, and Stephen is upset to learn Chuck has accepted a job with his rival, Ted Roark. Stephen later tells Chuck that it was ok if he wanted to work for Roark after Ellie accuses him of putting Chuck up to wrecking the release of Roark's new computer operating system. Chuck connects Orion's Intersect schematics with Roark's office compound, and he infiltrates the building on his own after Casey and Sarah refuse to believe his argument that Roark was building an Intersect. Stephen takes advantage of the opportunity and goes to Roark's offices himself under the guise of asking Roark not to fire Chuck for disrupting his software launch earlier. There, he reveals the truth of his history and his Orion Identity to Chuck and attempts to help him remove the Intersect. However, the Roark Intersect is incomplete and Stephen cannot get it to work. After Stephen and Chuck are surrounded by Roark, Vincent, and a team of commandos, Stephen convinces Roark to release Chuck if he agrees to help him finish the Intersect. As Sarah and Casey (who had followed them) take Chuck away to safety, he admits that he was wrong when he told Chuck not to trust his handlers. Chuck is unable to tell Ellie the truth about what happened to their father, so she is left believing he had deserted them again. Chuck began another search for him, first by using Dr. Jill Roberts, which eventually led him to flash on the location where he was being held. Agent Walker and Chuck go on an unauthorized mission to rescue him, with Colonel John Casey in pursuit. Eventually, Chuck's handlers rescue him after he completes the Intersect Cube for FULCRUM. However, he had encoded it with images to erase the Intersect from Chuck's mind rather than encode images into FULCRUM agents minds. Chuck eventually brings him back to Ellie for the rehearsal dinner, explaining his tardiness to Ellie by saying he had to get her wedding present. In "Chuck Versus the Ring," Stephen aided Bryce, Sarah, and Chuck in thwarting Roark's attempt to kill Ellie. He also agreed to turn over the Intersect Cube to Bryce because he knew Bryce could be trusted. When Chuck was determined to help Sarah protect the Intersect Cube, he gave his wrist computer to his son. In "Chuck Versus the Living Dead," Stephen returns out of hiding when he receives an encrypted message in the newspaper from his daughter Ellie requesting to meet with him. Unaware that his son downloaded the Intersect 2.0, Stephen is very surprised to see Casey and Sarah are still in Chuck's life when he's supposedly not a spy. Chuck lies to his father, telling him that he's no longer a spy and the reason that Sarah in his life is because she's actually now his girlfriend, not just a cover. When the couple go out on a date that's actually a mission to Daniel Shaw's apartment, Stephen follows them and in the process saves his son. Chuck tries to keep his spy life secret from his father only to be forced into revealing his secret after Stephen throws a knife at his face which causes the Intersect 2.0 to ascertain and neutralize the incoming threat. Chuck catches the knife in mid-air, confirming Stephen's suspension of his son downloading the Intersect 2.0. Stephen reveals that he's aware of the negative side effect the 2.0 can have on the brain and he may have a way to help fix the problem. As Stephen leaves he's intercepted by Elle who places a homing device on him under the orders of Agent Justin Sullivan for his own protection when in fact it was meant to track his whereabouts. Returning to one of his secret headquarters, Stephen examines his watch which is revealed to be a device he created for himself called The Governor which helps him control his own Intersect that slowly killing him. Stephen intends to create a newer version of the governor for Chuck. Unfortunately a team of Ring operatives sent by Justin attack him at his base searching for the Governor. Thanks to the timely arrival of Chuck and Sarah they are able to prevent the governor from falling into the hands of the ring for now. Development Scott Bakula was announced to be playing the role of Stephen Bartowski in January, 2009 as part of an extended arc to close out the season.Cast Update: January 16, 2009, [http://blog.zap2it.com/frominsidethebox/2009/01/chuck-gets-a-da.html Zap2It.com] In addition to his resemblance to Zachary Levi, Bakula was cast as Stephen Bartowski because Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak consider themselves huge Quantum Leap fans, and found Bakula's ability to jump from comedy to drama to action reminiscent of Zachary Levi's.Development Update: January 26, 2009: [http://blog.zap2it.com/frominsidethebox/2009/01/more-details-on-scott-bakula-and-chuck.html From Inside the Box] Chris Fedak has stated that Stephen Bartowski being Orion was part of the show's background mythology from the conception of the series, describing Chuck as Luke Skywalker and born into his role, rather than Peter Parker, who stumbled into it.Interview: April 7, 2009: [http://sepinwall.blogspot.com/2009/04/chuck-chris-fedak-talks-about-rest-of.html What's Alan Watching] Critical reaction to Bakula's performance has been overwhelmingly positive. Bakula was praised for his off-beat and slightly crazy performance,Review: April 6, 2009: [http://tv.ign.com/articles/970/970023p1.html IGN.com] and was noted as being the ideal casting choice.Review: April 6, 2009: [http://www.thefutoncritic.com/rant.aspx?id=20090406_chuck The Futon Critic] Numerous references were made to Stephen throughout the first and second season building towards his introduction, including his "Aces, Charles," referenced previously by Ellie, and used by Stephen himself in "Chuck Versus the Dream Job." Amusingly, Chuck wore one of his father's suits to Bryce Larkin's funeral, despite actor Zachary Levi being several inches taller than Bakula. Personality When first introduced in "Chuck Versus the Dream Job," Stephen is shown as highly disheveled, paranoid, and eccentric. Chuck and Ellie both call him a little crazy, as he insists on having played a part in the development of touch-screen, plasma television, and other technologies, as well as for his accusations that Ted Roark stole all of his best ideas. Chuck said he was "never really there" after their mother left them, leaving Chuck and Ellie largely to fend for themselves. He took a quick liking to Devon and advised him on how to handle the rough patch he was in with Ellie after the events of his bachelor party. Despite his quirks, Chuck told Stephen he missed his advice. Stephen is brilliant and tech-savvy, and after revealing his true identity to Chuck also proved to be highly competent and showing hand-to-hand combat, easily taking control of the security doors and disabling Vincent when the Fulcrum operative attempted to capture them in Roark's offices. He considers the Intersect the greatest thing he ever created, after his two children, and suggested that Chuck may be an even better engineer than he was. Although Stephen abandoned them many years earlier, he loves his children dearly and only left to protect them from those who wanted his knowledge. He saved Chuck's life by agreeing to aid Ted Roark complete the Fulcrum Intersect if he allowed Chuck to walk away. However, he double-crossed Roark and FULCRUM by programming it to only erase the Intersect from Chuck. In "Chuck Versus the Ring" he apprehended Roark when he attempted to kill Ellie by knocking him cold. Stephen mentioned he had been waiting twenty years for that opportunity. It is revealed that he has the ability to retain vast amounts of visual information which is hereditary as shown in Chuck. Death In Chuck Versus The Subway he and Chuck went to a secret base that housed the the ring intersect. Chuck and Stephen when entering the base tripped a silent alarm while Casey and Sarah were being held by Shaw, who was quickly informed that they entered the other base. When Chuck and Stephen emerge from the base they being held by gun point by Shaw and his men. Justin steals the governor from chuck to give to Shaw, then Shaw shoots Stephen in the chest with one shot in order to prevent Chuck from using the intersect because of Chuck's emotions. References to Popular Cultured *Scott Bakula referenced his previous role as Dr. Sam Beckett on Quantum Leap when Ellie was upset seeing him the first time and told him off over the pancakes he promised to make for dinner just before he disappeared. Stephen only managed to respond with "Oh boy!" This was the catch phrase of Sam, who would utter this whenever he "leaped" into a new body and discovered his new (and typically dangerous, embarrassing or compromising) situation. *Bakula further referenced Quantum Leap while hosting the lead-in to Chuck during the airing of "Chuck Versus the Dream Job," on April 6, 2009, when he remarked about feeling like he'd been there before, but that being quite a leap. Quantum Leap aired on NBC, on which Chuck now runs. *Stephen's wrist-mounted computer is a nod to the similar device worn by the aliens in the Predator films. Related links * Orion is not dead.com References Category:Characters Category:Season Two Recurring Characters